Built as a church and repurposed during its 1,500‑year history as a mosque, a museum and now a mosque once more, the Hagia ...

Originally a cathedral, Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque after Istanbul’s conquest by the Ottoman Empire but had been a museum for the last 86 years, drawing millions of tourists annually.

Today, Hagia Sophia is one of the world’s most extraordinary mosques — but it’s more than that. It’s also a symbol, a cultural phenomenon, and a monument.

Archaeology & History The Many Lives of Istanbul’s 1,500-Year-Old Architectural Icon Throughout its centuries-long existence, the Hagia Sophia has been a place of worship for different religions.

The current Hagia Sophia was built in the 6th century when Constantinople — as Istanbul was then called — was the heart of the Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire that emerged as Ancient Rome ...